


that i can do

by ShyAudacity



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Archie Andrews Needs a Hug, Asexual Jughead Jones, Boys In Love, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Jughead Jones Needs a Hug, M/M, Minor Injuries, Movie Night, Nightmares, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Sick Character, Slow Dancing, Veronica is a Good Friend, grundy and jugs grandpa are only mentioned dont worry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-26
Updated: 2018-01-26
Packaged: 2019-03-09 09:11:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13478286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShyAudacity/pseuds/ShyAudacity
Summary: “Hey,” Jughead says quietly. “You okay?”“Headache.” Archie mutters, just barely lifting his head.Jughead presses the back of hand to Archie’s cheek. He doesn’t miss the way that Archie sighs at the contact. Jughead moves his hand to Archie’s neck.“You feel hot, do you have a fever?”ORFive private moments of ~intimacy~ and one public.





	that i can do

**Author's Note:**

> This took me too long to write, lemme tell ya. 
> 
> Unbeta'd and title from The Next Ten Minutes (The Last Five Years).

I

Archie and Jughead are having an at home movie date while Fred is out of the house. Archie’s second favorite movie, _Remember the Titans,_ is playing on the TV, and Archie is fast asleep.

Jughead knew that this would happen. Archie had been practically dead on his feet when he got home from football practice, but still insisted that the two of them carry on with date night. Half an hour in, Jughead looked over and noticed that Archie was struggling to keep his eyes open, but Jughead didn’t say anything. Ten minutes later, Archie was asleep on Jughead’s shoulder; he simply smirked at the sight.

As the movie carried on, Jughead found himself staring at Archie more than he’s watching the movie. He can’t help it; he’s so infatuated with this boy that it surprises even him sometimes. He never imagined that his life would take him here. Being with Archie feels like a dream that he never wants to wake up from.

Jughead doesn’t know how much time has passed when he hears the lock on the front door rattle. He’s on his feet in a second, wiping his suddenly clammy hands on his jeans.

It’s not that Fred doesn’t know that Jughead and Archie are dating. He had been the first one that the two of them told after getting together. The thing is, neither of them are very keen on being all lovey dovey with each other in public, or even in front of their friends for that matter. It’s not that they don’t share their affection, Jughead and Archie just like to keep it on the down low.

Fred looks at Jughead as he comes inside.

“Hey, guys, what are you doing?”

Jughead looks over at Archie who’s slowly blinking into a state of awareness.

“Just uh- watching a movie.”

Fred nods, quirking a brow at Jughead’s nervousness. After he walks away, Jughead sighs, then looks back at Archie.

“What was that about?” He asks, rubbing his eyes.

“Nothing,” Jughead tells him. “I told you that you would fall asleep.”

II

One night, after Archie’s gotten home from football practice, he can hear the floorboards upstairs creaking every so often. He knows that his Dad wouldn’t be home yet from the construction site yet, and Jughead wasn’t supposed to be home until later. After giving Vegas some love, Archie heads upstairs, stepping carefully as to avoid the creaky spots in the wood.

The door to his room is half open; it’s ajar just enough that Archie can see inside. Jughead is standing in the middle of the room, his back to the door and headphones on. He’s jamming out to whatever it is that he’s listening to, doing a little two-step in the middle of the floor. The air mattress has been pushed up against the wall to make more room for Jughead to dance.

It might be the most adorable thing that Archie has ever seen in all his life.

Carefully, Archie comes into his bedroom, shutting the door behind him quietly.

“Jug,” Archie says, trying to get his attention. “Hey, Jughead.”

It must work at least a little because two seconds later Jughead shifts just enough that Archie is in his line of sight. Jughead jumps nearly a foot into the air out of surprise. Once he realizes it’s just his boyfriend and not an intruder, he sighs, placing a hand in the middle of his chest.

Archie grins at him as he stepped forward. He moves Jughead’s headphones so that they rested around his neck.

“What are you doing home? I thought that you were supposed to be working with Betty at the Blue and Gold this afternoon.”

“We were, but I guess Cheryl called an “Emergency River Vixen’s practice,” so we had to reschedule. How was practice?”

“Same as usual, a bunch of sweaty dudes trying to barrel each other over… Do you do that a lot? Dance when no one else is around?”

Jughead blushes almost shamefully.

“Sometimes.” He mutters.

“Well would you dance with me?”

Jughead looks at Archie like he’s grown a second head.

“No, I’m serious, Jug,” Archie laughs lightly, stretching his arms out. “Come dance with me.”

Jughead looks at him warily. Then, he unplugs his headphones from his cell phone, turning up the volume and setting it aside on the dresser.

At first, neither of them are really sure what to do. It’s not like they’ve ever done this before. Both of them are stiff and eye contact suddenly feels like a bad idea. Then, after the third song or so, both of them begin to relax into it. Jughead tightens his arms around Archie’s waist, and Archie rests his cheek against Jughead’s beanie. As they sway together, all of their worries begin to slip away.

One of Jughead’s hands comes up to rest on the center of Archie’s chest. Archie looks at him with a fond smile, then leans in for a kiss. The two of them share small kisses for a few minutes before Archie pulls away.

“We could do this for real, you know,” He says. “At Prom or something.”

Jughead doesn’t stop himself from scoffing.

“Fat chance.” He mutters.

Archie looks up at him confusedly, stops dancing.

“You don’t wanna go to prom?”

“No, no it’s not that, it’s just- I don’t know. I guess I never really gave it much thought, being all public like that.”

Jughead has never really seen himself as the kind of guy to go to prom, or to dance with his partner in front of a couple hundred of his classmates for that matter. He doesn’t doubt that he would enjoy it at least a little, especially if Archie was there with him. That doesn’t make the idea any less haunting to him.

Archie nods. “I get it, but we’re still going to Prom, right?”

Jughead looks down, suddenly very interested in how their hands are linked together.

“Maybe.”

III

When Jughead walks into the Andrews house only to find it quiet, he immediately knows that something isn’t right.

There’s always something making noise here. Whether it’s Archie playing his guitar, Vegas barking, or some sports game that Fred is watching. Even in the middle of the night, Jughead has found that the house creaks any time that a big gust of wind comes along. Something about it gives Jughead a strange sense of peace.

Back to the issue at hand, Jughead can’t imagine why the whole house would be so quiet. Upon further inspection, he finds Archie in the kitchen, his head pillowed by his forearms as it rests on the table.

“Hey,” Jughead says quietly. “You okay?”

“Headache.” Archie mutters, just barely lifting his head.

Jughead presses the back of his hand to Archie’s cheek. He doesn’t miss the way that Archie sighs at the contact. Jughead moves his hand to Archie’s neck.

“You feel hot, do you have a fever?”

“Probably. Moose was sick at practice the other day, musta gotten it from him.”

Jughead hums in a low tone, scratching at Archie’s hairline.

“Is anything else bothering you?”

“M’cold.” Archie says, shifting to press his head into Jughead’s stomach. “And there’s like a… dull ache all over.”

“We should get you upstairs, you’ll feel better in bed, don’t you think?”

Archie makes a nonsensical noise in the back of his throat. Moving slowly, he heads towards the stairs, pulling Jughead along with him.

Once in his room, Archie kicks off shoes and jeans, leaving him in his long-sleeved shirt and boxers. Then, he waits for Jughead to sit before he lies down, resting his head on Jughead’s thigh, Archie sighs again when Jughead starts pushing his slightly sweaty hair away from his forehead.

“Is this okay?” Jughead asks.

“I should be asking you that.”

Jughead smirks a little. “Just because I’m asexual doesn’t mean I don’t want to be close with you like this every once and a while. I’m fine, I promise. Just get some sleep, okay?”

Archie nods. “You gon’ stay?”

“Absolutely.” He says, his tone quiet. “I can’t imagine being anywhere else.”

IV

Archie wakes up out of breath and slightly panicked because of the dream that he’d just had.

This one had been about Grundy. The two of them were back in the music room, just like the night of the last showing at the Drive-In. This time though, instead of his father, Betty, and Alice Cooper coming in, a pair of police officers do. They had immediately rushed towards Grundy, placing her in handcuffs.

 _“Help! Help me, Archie, please save me!”_ She’d cried.

That was when he woke up, and now he can’t get her voice out of his head. He can’t stop seeing her pleading eyes looking at him while he just stands there, frozen as a statue.

“Arch?” Jughead says sleepily. “You okay?”

Archie breathes out heavily. He hadn’t realized that he’d woken Jughead up and now he’s kicking himself for it. He shouldn’t have to bring Jughead into this mess, he should be able to deal with it on his own, but he’ll be damned if this dream isn’t trying to eat him alive right now.

“I don’t- I don’t know,”

The next thing he knows Jughead is sliding in next to him, both of them sitting up and pressed shoulder to shoulder. Jughead places his hand in the center of Archie’s chest, moving his fingers ever so slightly.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” He asks, hooking his chin over Archie’s shoulder.

Archie shakes his head, “Maybe tomorrow.”

Jughead nods. “Okay, d’you wanna lie down?”

Archie nods. The two of them move so that Jughead is lying flat on his back while Archie rests his head on Jughead’s chest, just inches away from where Jughead’s shoulder and his neck meet. One of his arms curled around Archie’s back. He relaxes a little when Jughead starts to move his hand through his hair.

“You’re gonna be okay, you know that?” He says quietly. “We’re gonna get through this, Arch.”

Archie nods, the anxious feeling in his chest ebbing away from him as he drifts off again.  

V

Jughead is hiding out in the tree house when Archie finds him, head between his legs and arms limp at his sides. He had run out of the room after he accidentally dropped a glass at dinner, looking panicked as ever. That was nearly an hour ago, and Archie had grown worried when he hadn’t made so much as a peep from upstairs. After checking the attic and the basement, he realized that his bedroom window had been opened- this was the last place that Archie decided to look.

Archie sits at Jughead’s feet, surprised they the both of them still fit in the treehouse after all of these years. He talks quietly, not wanting to startle Jughead.

“It’s just a glass, Jug.” He says. “It can be replaced, and Dad’s not even mad, I promise. God knows I’ve dropped plenty of breakable dishes in my life.”

Jughead doesn’t react; Archie places a gentle hand on his calf, rubbing lightly.

“Hey, talk to me. What’s going on?”

Jughead just barely lifts his head, but doesn’t meet Archie’s eye.

“You remember how my Grandad used to live with us when I was a kid?”

Archie nods, “Yeah, why?”

“He liked to yell a lot,” Jughead says. “Especially if something broke… he smacked me around a couple of times because of it. Before you say anything- I know that your Dad isn’t like that, I do, I just- I don’t know. I freaked out.”

“Okay, I can understand that, but- you can’t live your whole life fearing the world.”

“I’ve managed so far.”

“This is what you call managing?”

Jughead stiffens up, and Archie tries again.

“Sorry, that wasn’t- how can I help? For right now, at least.” 

Jughead mumbles. “Just sit with me a while?”

Archie nods again, “Okay… whatever you need.”

He doesn’t take his hand off of Jughead’s leg until they’re both ready to go inside. Archie thinks on some level that maybe he needed it just as much as Jughead did.

+I

Jughead and Veronica are in the candy aisle of the one, lonely grocery store in town. They’ve both been elected to buy snacks for the movie that they have planned after the football game with Archie and Betty. Jughead’s in the middle of asking whether or not they should get any sour candy when Veronica’s phone rings.

 “Hey, B, what’s up?... Well is he okay? Betty-? Ah, shit.”

“What? What happened?”

“Archie got hurt at the game and my phone died before Betty could tell me what happened.” 

Jughead doesn’t pay attention to anything else that she says after that because his panic sensors have already kicked it into full gear. It takes less than a minute for him to feel like someone is hammering at the space between his ribs with a pickaxe. The basket falls from his trembling hands as he lets out a shuddering, too short breath.

“Jughead? Are you okay?” Veronica asks.

He shakes his head, suddenly unable to make words properly. Jughead presses his back against the shelves, tucking his chin to his chest trying to make all of the thoughts stop spinning in his head.

_Archie’s hurt. He’s hurt. I can’t help him. I can’t help anyone. I can’t save anyone. This town is going to ruin everyone. It’s going to ruin Archie. It’s going to ruin me. I don’t to be ruined. I don’t want Archie to be hurt. He got hurt. I can’t help him. I can’t save Archie. He’s going to die. I don’t want to lose him. I can’t. I can’t. I can’t._

“Hey, try and calm down, alright?” Veronica says softly. “I’m sure that Archie’s going to be fine.”

She places her hand on the center of his chest, trying to keep him steady. Jughead forces his eyes shut, shaking his head with even more force than before.

_He’s not. Archie’s not fine. He’s hurt. I couldn’t stop it. I can’t keep him safe. I can’t protect anyone. I can’t do this. I can’t-._

“Hey, Jughead, look- Archie’s here, he’s okay.”

Jughead whips his head up, forces his eyes open just as Archie and Betty walk through the front doors. He moves forward on wobbly legs, not stopping until he can curl his trembling hands in the seam of Archie’s jacket.

Upon realizing that something is wrong, Archie holds Jughead as close and as tightly as he can with one arm. After feeling the way that Jughead is shaking against him, Archie kisses his forehead. He begins speaking quietly in his ear, talking him down from his state of panic.

“Hey, Juggie, it’s okay. I’m alright, I promise, it’s just a sprain. Please, baby, just breathe for me, okay?”

Jughead nods against Archie’s collarbone, taking a full breath for the first time in nearly ten minutes. He sags a little, leaning into Archie’s chest, reveling in the way that Archie’s hand is moving up and down his back every time that he breathes out. He knows that Betty and Veronica are definitely watching all of this unfold, but he doesn’t care- he _needs_ this, privacy be damned for once.

Jughead takes a step back, looking down at where Archie is holding his other hand between their chests; it’s been wrapped with gauze around his palm and his wrist.

“Your hand?” Jughead rasps.

Archie follows his gaze, then holds his hand up for Jughead to see.

“Yeah.” He says, laughing a little. “I guess that’s what I get for playing too hard.”

Jughead laughs along with him, smiling as he hides his face in Archie’s collarbone again.

_Thank god you’re okay. I don’t know what I would have done if something bad had happened._

“Guys?” Betty asks tentatively. “Everything okay?”

Jughead looks over his shoulder at her, then back at Archie, grinning again.

“Yeah,” He assures her. “We’re okay.”

As they walk out of the store later, Jughead and Archie link their hands together. Jughead smiles, thinking to himself: _I could get used to this._

**Author's Note:**

> Happy one year of Riverdale!
> 
> Thanks for reading my fic! Leave a comment or a kudos to let me know what you thought of it. You can leave a prompt here or at my riverdale blog (archieandrewsprotectionsquad). Thanks again for reading, have a great day!


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